S5 E7 Act 4 According to Harpy
by Harpy101
Summary: Final Act of E7.


ACT 4

ANOTHER LONDON STREET. DAY.:

_Anna is smoothing her dress and her hair as she and Bates walk._

ANNA  
You got it, then.

_He reveals a valise hidden under his coat. It's full of film; rolls, cartridges and prints_.

ANNA (CONT'D)  
You took all of it!

BATES  
Only he knows which ones are of Lady Edith. And who knows how many innocent people are in all these pictures?

_Anna smiles._

ANNA  
Of course you would think of that.

_She is beaming at him._

BATES  
What is it?

ANNA  
I like my husband. He's a very, very good man.

BATES  
Then why don't you listen to him?

ANNA  
I do.

BATES  
I told you to stay at home.

ANNA  
Yes, you did.

_Bates is glaring at her. She gives him a naughty, comical smile. Bates loses the battle and begins to laugh._

CARSON'S OFFICE. DAY.

_Hughes enters._

Carson is writing furiously. He stops.

CARSON  
Once I've started it's like opening the tap.

_Hughes smiles at him._

CARSON (CONT'D)  
I don't know how I will write it all down.

HUGHES  
Great knowledge is a burden best shared. His Lordship is right. There's no one better suited to this project than you, Mr. Carson.

_Carson stands and walks past her to shut his office door. He returns to her. He takes her hand._

CARSON  
I haven't known what to expect, with all the new changes in staff and estate.

HUGHES  
I know.

CARSON  
But now, with this new project-

HUGHES  
Yes.

CARSON  
I mean to say, it might be time for a real change, and a real understanding.

_He pulls her close, his voice going soft._

CARSON (CONT'D)  
To avoid any awkward - assumptions.

DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY. EVENING.

BAXTER  
You helped out with dinner again.

MOSELY  
Just the preparations. We've a guest tonight and the staff is so much smaller now. We've all got to muck in.

BAXTER  
You must be tired.

MOSELY  
I'm not done yet. His Lordship is still at dinner.

_Baxter opens the boot room door._

BAXTER  
Could we? I want to talk to you. Just for a moment.

_Mosely follows her slowly in. Baxter hesitates_.

MOSELY  
I knew it.

BAXTER  
You knew what?

MOSELY  
That it was too good to be true. You've changed your mind, haven't you?

BAXTER  
About-?

MOSELY  
About marrying me.

_Baxter laughs gently._

BAXTER  
No, Joe.

_She takes his hands._

BAXTER (CONT'D)  
Silly man. I need to talk to you about the wedding, though, and about-family.

A FLAT IN LONDON. EVENING.

_A posh room is dark and hazy with smoke. Several well-dressed men are in various locations sitting and standing around a room, looking at Thomas, who is in shirtsleeves in the center seat._

THOMAS  
I'll have better information than that, and on better marks as well. Trust me.

MONAGHAN  
(To the room) He's a liar! (Wheeling on Thomas) You set me up today. Months of work-

THOMAS  
Why would I do that? For them who fired me?

_A tall, beautifully dressed man in his 40s emerges from a shadow. His voice is deep and distinctive. He is, without any doubt, the boss._

TALL MAN  
Boys will get into mischief. The Birmingham Boys are all about mischief. We break every rule of society and invent new rules. We live our own way.

_Thomas begins to sit up and the tall man puts out the fingertips of a manicured hand, shoving him back into the chair._

TALL MAN (CONT'D)  
But rules within the brotherhood keep us honest with one another.

THOMAS  
Might do. Don't like the brother I got at birth. I could use some others (he drags on his cigarette) who are more like me.

TALL MAN  
It's not about what's useful to you. It's what's useful to us.

_The tall man's hand closes on Thomas's collar and twists, tightening it._

TALL MAN (CONT'D)  
And by all appearances you've used us already.

THOMAS  
(Stays calm) You don't know me, so I'll explain.

_The tall man bends down, his hands on the arms of Thomas' chair._

THOMAS (CONT'D)  
That family's got a paid staff of toughs. Real ones they keep on retainer. Ex-convicts, jailed for murder and the like. Even the staff in the house have got criminal records.

MONAGHAN  
We'll see about that. They ain't tougher than us.

THOMAS  
Devoted. Ruthless. With military training and the family money behind them to do what's needed. You shouldn't have had at them to begin with.

TALL MAN  
Is that so?

_Thomas nods, one eyebrow up._

MONAGHAN  
So why'd you bother me, then?

THOMAS  
Well, I fancied you.

_There is a silence around the room as the men look at each other._

THOMAS (CONT'D)  
I DID, that is.

_Thomas looks at the tall man standing over him, eying him up and down._

THOMAS (CONT'D)  
I'm a fickle sort.

TALL MAN  
You want to be careful.

THOMAS  
(Looking around the room) And you all, what do you want?

_The tall men stands upright, frowning_.

THOMAS (CONT'D)  
Tell you what. If you want to meet someone, say, from the King Oliver Jazz Band on Saturday night after the show, I can fix it. Or other illustrious members of our regular clientele at the Savoy. I can get you tables up front. And other-perks.

_Silence, as they absorb this. The tall man is listening_.

THOMAS (CONT'D)  
But you'll have to bring me in. And no spankings for today.

_His eyes are steady through the smoke from his cigarette. The tall man standing over Thomas begins to smile_.

UPSTAIRS DINING ROOM. EVENING.

SARAH  
It's rather like a museum, this house.

ROBERT  
So I've heard.

SARAH  
But a lovely family home, as well. The family sigils are of particular interest. I convinced Tom to show them to me one night.

VIOLET  
One-night?

SARAH  
Yes.

_Violet's eyebrows are up as she looks at Robert_.

SARAH (CONT'D)  
Lady Grantham, I assure you that education is my only profession.

_There is a shocked silence._

SARAH (CONT'D)  
I'm certain that no indecency was implied. But being the only other person at this table with personal experience as a member of the moral and God-fearing working class, I thought it was upon me to clear it up.

_Violet laughs._

SARAH (CONT'D)  
I've been blunt, Lord Grantham. But clarity is best. Tom is a decent man. I believe there may have been some doubt in your mind?

ROBERT  
Not on Tom's part, no.

SARAH  
Good. I'm glad you know him for the man he is. For myself, I don't fear evaluation. Just prejudice.

ROBERT  
What sort of prejudice are we accused of?

SARAH  
Prejudice comes naturally to every human mind. We must observe constant vigilance against it.

ROBERT  
I haven't heard those words used in conjunction since the war.

SARAH  
The Great War? Or the second Boer war?

_Robert looks up in surprise, then nods._

ROBERT  
Of course. Tom told you.

SARAH  
No. I guessed by your age. And by that (she nods at a framed medal among other framed medals on the wall). The Queen's South Africa Medal with the Rhodesia clasp. That's a battle clasp.

ROBERT  
How do you know-

SARAH  
I am a primary school teacher, My Lord, but my preferred subject was English history. That was a very unpopular war. What was it like talking to people when you returned?

ROBERT  
Sometimes-difficult.

SARAH  
Especially as a member of the upper class. Many blamed you.

ROBERT  
That's to some extent true but-

SARAH  
But you put yourself in danger. Most won't do that for gold. You were defending our country.

ROBERT  
You might have found, in your studies, that the upper classes have always gone into battle to defend our country.

SARAH  
As you say. Though they tend to return more physically intact than the lower classes.

_Long silence as Robert and Sarah hold a gaze over the table, each with fork and knife in hand, very still_.

ROBERT  
Though not always.

SARAH  
No. Not always.

_There is another pause as Tom and Carson look back and forth between Robert and Sarah_.

VIOLET  
Is that an ending on the first skirmish? Are we safe to retreat?

_Robert and Sarah both relax. Tom takes a long drink from his wine glass. Carson breathes_.

SARAH  
I apologize, Lady Grantham.

VIOLET  
Not at all. You came onto the field with a flourish of banners and weaponry. But now, perhaps we could pass the olive branch before the pudding.

SARAH  
Of course.

ROBERT  
Might I ask how you became so interested in history?

SARAH  
My father compiled research on The Anglo-Cherokee War and the Pontiac's Rebellion, and wrote several volumes on the American War of Independence and its effect on British culture.

ROBERT  
He sounds nearly American.

SARAH  
Not at all, My Lord. He's as British as they come. And he's not an historian. My father is in publishing.

_Robert and Carson are exchanging a look_.

ROBERT  
I don't suppose you ever assisted your father on these compilations?

SARAH  
Oh, yes, My Lord. I've been trained in research. Thought I spend much more time on politics in the present, (looks at Tom) I do believe history is essential.

TOM  
Without which we are doomed to repeat.

SARAH  
Exactly.

_Robert and Sarah give each other another long look, but now they have both softened. Sarah smiles at Tom._

_Violet raises her glass._

VIOLET  
Peace, at last.

KITCHEN. EVENING AFTER DINNER.

PATMORE  
You set out the curry spices for the kedgeree for breakfast? Millicent is still struggling with the new pantry system.

DAISY  
Yes. She won't have any trouble.

_Pause. Patmore lifts her cup_.

PATMORE  
Hard to find, isn't it?

DAISY  
What? The turmeric? We've plenty.

PATMORE  
No. A lad who can repair machines and horses both.

DAISY  
What were you two talking about today?

_Patmore shrugs_.

PATMORE  
Many things.

DAISY  
How did you make him laugh?

PATMORE  
There are some who appreciate my singular wit.

DAISY  
He's a good man.

PATMORE  
I'm glad.

DAISY  
I didn't mean for me. Just-a good man.

PATMORE  
Why not for you?

DAISY  
I just like having a friend, right now.

PATMORE  
Daisy, as you learn farming and become caught up in the work, remember to mind your own life. You won't be young forever. It seems you will, but endeavors and interests can take hold of you and swing you about like a carnival ride. And when you land, so many of the years have gone. And your chances with them.

EXT. ISBOEL'S HOUSE, LATE EVENING.

_Isobel's butler loads several suitcases onto the back of Merton's car. Isobel gets into the car next to Lord Merton. She is fidgeting_.

MERTON  
What's the matter?

ISOBEL  
I feel I shouldn't be so happy. And it's ridiculous, sneaking off to elope at my age.

MERTON  
Much as Lady Merton and I were at odds, we were friends to a point, and I think she would want me to be happy. What do you think Matthew would want?

ISOBEL  
I know what he would want. But it may take me some time.

MERTON  
Time you'll have. I won't rush you. And you needn't worry about being happy all the time.

_She looks at him._

_He grins, rakishly._

MERTON (CONT'D)  
I snore.

INT. TRAIN, NIGHT.  
_Bates and Anna are seated next to each other. The train interior is softly lit_.

ANNA  
Another baby in the house.

BATES  
It was safest to bring them back for now. I'm glad Lady Edith could see that.

ANNA  
We can't be sure that's all of his film.

BATES  
Only everything I could find in the flat, including the film in his cameras. But we'll destroy all of this.

ANNA  
I'm looking forward to a quiet evening at home now.

BATES  
Oh. Sorry, it won't be tonight.

ANNA  
Why not?

_Bates unfolds his letter from the morning and hands it to her. She reads it, open-mouthed. She throws her arms around him. He laughs._

THE END


End file.
